Chapter 46

James and Sirius, after hearing from Ginny that Harry was on his way over to Godric's Hollow and was probably already there, headed back immediately, grumbling about barriers and annoying reporters. Ginny followed grinning and biting her tongue.

When they arrived they walked in and Ginny stared around at the decrepit surroundings. James and Sirius wandered off towards the kitchen area calling for Harry while she walked over to the couch. She spied the dragon stuffed animal and wanted a closer look.

As she walked in the dark room, she tripped over a large object on the floor. When she looked back she saw Harry's still form laying half under a coffee table and the puffy bumps on his neck, cheek, and eyebrow. She screamed loudly and heard footsteps running from somewhere far off.

Just as James and Sirius entered the room, Ginny stood up and called to them. She bent back over Harry and shook him shouting his name. As James and Sirius ran past the window, several doxies flew at them. Luckily they knew of the infestation from their previous visit and were ready for the attack.

"Stupefy!" they both shouted several times.

"Ginny, what's wrong? What happened to him?" asked James as he rushed over and knelt by his son.

"I think he was bitten by the doxies! Here, here, and there," she said pointing to the bites on his face and neck.

"There's three doxies stunned here that we didn't stun," Sirius said quickly counting the small winged bodies. "Where else was he bitten, anywhere?"

"We need to get him to Mungo's, now" said James as he tried to pick up his son.

"Wait, I think there's doxycide at Sirius' place, I can go look quickly, hold on," said Ginny.

"You've got three minutes before we leave for Mungo's, we don't know how long he's been here and like this. Hurry!" shouted James. Ginny jumped up and ran for the door. They heard a very loud pop.

"Harry, please be okay," James whispered as he held his son in his lap,

"Looks like he's got bites on his wrist and ankle as well ... Five bites, James, that's not good. He needs more than doxycide, this is really bad…" Sirius trailed off.

***

Meanwhile, Ginny had shakily Apparated to Grimmauld Place and was scrambling through all the cupboards in the kitchen and shouting for Ron and Hermione.

They came running and Ron asked, "Ginny, what's the matter, what's going on?"

"It's Harry, he was bitten by several doxies, and he's unconscious. Where the bloody hell is the damn doxycide?" she yelled turning to another cupboard.

"Harry threw out the last bottle; it had gone bad over the last three years. Ginny we need to get him to St. Mungo's right away, stop wasting time!" Hermione shouted, Ginny looked at her and then ran up the stairs to the front door after them.

They all arrived at Godric's Hollow and saw James and Sirius floating Harry outside. When James saw that Ginny wasn't carrying anything he grabbed Harry's hand and Apparated away to St. Mungo's emergency entrance. Sirius and the others followed.

***

At St. Mungo's Hermione sat next to Ron, who sat next to Sirius. In front of them Ginny paced back and forth. James was in with the healers and Harry. Twenty minutes passed before James came out. He looked weary and his hair was standing on end from running his fingers through it so many times. He was wearing mint green healer robes over his own and shuffled his feet as he walked.

Ginny paused in her pacing as he walked closer.

"He's going to be alright, he's sleeping now, should be for several hours. The healers want him to stay overnight for observation because five doxy bites in quick succession like that leaves a lot of poison behind, and they want to make sure it's completely flushed out before sending him home to rest," he said. "I would like to know if someone can go wait at the house for Lily and let her know to come in when she gets done shopping."

"We can, is it okay if we pop our heads in to see Harry first?" asked Hermione. James nodded his head.

"Come on Ginny," said Ron as he stood up.

"I'm just going to wait here for Harry to wake up," she said quietly.

"Ginny, Harry's going to be asleep for quite some time, and the hospital isn't really a place to just hang out. Come with us," said Hermione. Ginny opened her mouth to retaliate when Hermione nodded at James' direction. Ginny took one look at James and realized that he probably wanted to talk to his best friend alone. She sighed and nodded and followed her brother and Hermione down the hallway.

James sat heavily next to Sirius and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"I don't think it hit me until today, Padfoot. I'm a dad, I have a son…and he almost…" James heaved a loud, shaky sigh. "I wasn't there for him when he needed me. All his life I wasn't there, and then this happens, and I'm still not there. What kind of father am I who can't even help his own child when he's in danger?"

"Well, Prongs, I'd have to say that Harry's not a child. Shit happens, James. This was a total accident. No one could have known this would occur; you can't beat yourself up over this. You can't be there for him every time something happens, that would be called smothering," said Sirius.

"But Padfoot, I've never been there for him, and now that I have the chance to be, I'm still not there? He's going to hate me," James whispered. A single tear rolled down his cheek.

"James, pull yourself together. Harry couldn't possibly blame you for this. It was a fluke, there's no way—"

"But it could have, Sirius! We could have taken care of those damn fairies on Sunday. We knew they were there, we knew the infestation was bad enough to need doxycide today to take care of them, and yet we went unprepared anyway. No, I went unprepared. Knowing my only child would be there with us. I was there for hours by myself and nothing happened," he said quietly.

"Well, once you get to know Harry's past a little more, you'll understand, this kind of thing happens to him all the time. He's like a trouble magnet. Bloody hell, he killed a damn Basilisk when he was twelve!" Sirius said, his voice rising slightly.

"Shh! don't be shouting that!" said Ron as he walked up to them. "You never know who could be listening, in any form. Don't you guys understand that Rita Skeeter is legally able to eavesdrop in her Animagus form, a bug, anywhere now? You can't be talking about Harry's past like that in public. That whole snake thing wasn't exactly public knowledge."

"Sorry, we won't talk about his past anymore," said Sirius.

"Good, I was just going to tell you we're done seeing Harry, so the room is empty now, well besides Harry of course. We'll see you later. Hermione and I are going to take down the barrier when we get back so you can get home whenever. Bye." Ron walked away down the hall as Hermione and Ginny left the private room. James could see Ginny's eyes were red and puffy. Her brother put his arm around her and Hermione and the three walked away heads bowed.

"He has some amazing friends, doesn't he?" James asked his friend,

"The best. I don't know how many times I've seen Harry in a right old mood and his face cheer right up when Ron and Hermione start joking around with him. And Ginny is a wonder also. I don't know how long they've been together but it had to be after his fifth year," Sirius responded.

"They look like they're in love. And she has red hair," James smiled.

"Ah the Potter Men curse. The Potter ancestor, cursed forever by a red-head scorned, so that all Potter men must fall in love with a red head for all their days. What a load of—"

"Oh? Well then explain why the portraits of all my woman relatives in Meadow Haven all have red hair? Hmm?" asked James light-heartedly.

"Not all of them. There was the one, your Great-times-five-Grandfather married for aristocracy and money. Then didn't he fall in love with the handmaiden? Who, remind me please, had red hair?" teased Sirius.

"You just proved my point Padfoot," said James lightly. "Come on, let's go sit with Harry." They both stood up and walked down the hallway together.

The first glimpse of Harry stopped Sirius in his tracks. The young man, who was so full of life, looked so pale and small against the snow white blankets and his black hair. He had a lime green paste applied to the bites on his face, and his wrist and ankle were wrapped in gauze. He was sleeping peacefully however and that soothed Sirius slightly.

James stared at his son for several minutes sitting next to the bed, and holding Harry's uninjured hand.

"So Padfoot, besides the Ministry meeting what else were you up to today. You were a little cryptic at breakfast," James said tearing his eyes away from Harry's face.

"Oh, er, I applied for a job. Nothing big really, not very important," he replied nervously.

"What? Sirius, you're rich, not just rich, filthy rich, you don't need a job. What did you apply for?" asked James with a grin.

"Like I said, it's not really that important. Besides, all my money that I inherited when my mother and father died went to Harry when I 'died'. The house, the money, even the elf is Harry's now. I'm not about to take that dirty pureblood money back from him. I don't mind working like the rest of the world and earning my keep. In fact, I prefer it that way. If Harry tries to give me back the Black fortune, I'll donate it to charity or something. The Weasley's could use it, or…anyone else but me. Besides, think of my mother down in hell knowing that her blood money is being used to feed the Muggleborns and blood traitors," said Sirius with a gleeful smile. James smiled.

"That's pretty noble of you Padfoot. I don't know if I could do it," he said.

"Well, you have a family to raise, and hey, maybe even give Harry here a few siblings," Sirius said his eyebrows doing a dance on his forehead. James shook her head.

"If Lily and I decided to have more kids, it won't be for a while yet. We need to get to know this one better. Besides, what if Harry doesn't want brothers and sisters?" he asked.

"Psh, Harry, not want siblings? James, mate, watch Harry when he's around the Weasley family. He watches those kids and the look on his face…Anyone can see he wishes you and Lily had been around, and now that you are, I'd bet you a hundred Galleons he's already thought of brothers and sisters at least once since you woke up. Harry even has had practice with Teddy," Sirius said. As he said Remus' son's name a sad look passed over his face that James mimicked.

"We'll learn what happened to him, Sirius. Harry won't keep that from us. And we'll be in Teddy's life as well. He'll never miss out on stories of his pop," James said sadly.

Just then, the door was thrown open and Lily ran inside, followed by Molly Weasley. Lily ran to the bed and tearfully asked James, "Is he okay? What happened?" She brushed the hair away from Harry's face and kissed his forehead while James explained.

Molly hung back and listened. She and Arthur had been in Diagon Alley when they spotted Lily out shopping by herself. They walked with Lily for a while, pointing out the newer stores Lily wouldn't know about. After half an hour of shopping Arthur needed to return to the office after an extended lunch break, so Molly agreed to return to Grimmauld Place with Lily to discuss Harry's likes and dislikes in regards to food preferences. When they arrived they found Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sitting in the kitchen.

Hermione jumped up and began explaining what happened, but as soon as Lily heard the words, "Harry's in St. Mungo's," she was out the door and Apparating to the hospital followed quickly by Molly.

"Oh my poor baby," Lily said softly. She had sat down on the bed next to Harry and was stroking his hair.

The four adults sat in silence for a while until Molly announced she needed to return the Burrow to make dinner.

"I'll have Hermione come to my house for dinner tonight so you don't have to worry about her, alright?" she said as she left. Lily and James nodded their thanks, but were too distracted to notice her departure. Sirius decided to get some air and announced he'd return in a half an hour. James and Lily were left alone with their sleeping son.

"James, how did this happen? He was supposed to be with you. I trusted that he was going to be okay with you," she said.

"Lily, this is hardly my fault. Harry and his friend put up an Animagus barrier around the house. When we couldn't get in, we thought that something bad was happening in there. How was I supposed to know you both had already left? All of this was no one's fault," James said irritably.

"James, I just don't know how to trust you with his safety. You're his father, and you weren't there when our child needed you," Lily said scathingly. James stared back at her in shock.

"You don't think that very thought hasn't been beating me upside my skull for the past half an hour? You don't think I'm not scared shitless about this? Get a grip Lily. You need to realize our son is eighteen, he isn't a bloody child. We can't be there for him at every turn. Hell, we don't deserve to be there for him at every turn, because we haven't been there for him since he was a baby! But that doesn't mean I don't hate that I wasn't there to protect him, so don't you dare accuse me of that. I'd like to point out you weren't there either," James said angrily, trying to keep his voice down. His voice had begun to shake, and his fists had balled in anger.

"I'm not going to argue with you here, James. You obviously aren't in the right state of mind to have a civilized conversation right now," said Lily.

"Don't you try to turn this around on me, Lily, and make this out to be my attitude that started this argument. You have no right to come in here and insinuate that Harry being injured is my fault and I have every right to defend myself!" James finished in a deafening whisper.

"I have no right? I have every right! You were supposed to be there, James. I trusted you to be there and take care of him, and then I come home to some panicky teenagers saying my baby is in the hospital? Do you know how scared I was James?" asked Lily.

"How scared you were? Try having to find him laying there swollen and unconscious! You don't know scared until you've had that happen to you! So don't you dare try to make this out as if you're the injured party here, because it's not either of us. It's him," said James pointing at Harry.

"You're right," said Sirius from the doorway. Both Lily and James spun around and blushed at getting caught fighting. "Harry is the one who needs both your attention the next couple days, and arguing like sixth years isn't going to accomplish anything. I'm ashamed at both of you. Arguing over your sick son's sleeping body about whose fault it is? It's so childish I can't even comprehend it.

"Be glad it was me who found you like this and that you didn't wake up Harry. He's always been worried that you two didn't care about each other since he saw a Pensive memory of you two fighting after our OWLs. Remember that? He saw that, and risked expulsion to ask me whether or not you two were happy as a married couple. If he had woken up and found you two arguing, I don't know what he would have thought but it wouldn't have been good. He doesn't deserve this.

"You two need to go home and talk this out. As Harry's Godfather, I'm kicking you out of this room until you can kiss and make up. I'm not about to let Harry be sick and worry his parents don't love each other. Grow up both of you and realize this: Harry doesn't need smothering and constant attention; he needs your acceptance and understanding. He's in training to be a bloody Auror. He's going to get hurt and he's going to get sick over the years, and instead of immaturely making this about you two, think about your son's feelings and act your age; which by the way is thirty eight not twelve. Now go home." Sirius stood aside and pointed at the door. When James and Lily both tried to argue with him that they should stay in case Harry woke up, he insisted that he would be there for his Godson and they needed to leave and go work out their differences where Harry wouldn't hear.

Finally, they left and Sirius sank into a chair.

"When the bloody hell did I become the mature one of the group?" he asked the room. Suddenly, he looked around the room suspiciously, "Remus? Am I channelling you?" He looked around him and getting no answer he chuckled. "And now I'm talking to myself…I must be nutters."

He spent the next hour and a half reading the newspaper and a couple of Witch Weeklys until he heard a groan. He looked over at Harry who was stirring.

"Harry, kiddo, you have got to stop scaring us like this," he said as he moved closer.

"Sirius?" asked Harry blearily as he looked around the room.

"Yep, sorry kiddo, you're in Mungo's. Got bitten by a couple Doxies," he replied.

"Oh…Sirius, shouldn't you be in hiding? What happens if someone sees you?"

A/N: I know Lily seems a bit like a jerk in this chapter, but just keep in mind that she and James have the mentality of 21 year olds, and they've only been married (to them) for a few years. No relationship is perfect and in the face of sudden sickness and trauma, people say things they don't mean. I am a firm believer that all relationships need a healthy spat now and then, it's how far that spat goes, how serious the topic, and how frequent they come that can cause a more serious issue. If you want to comment on the argument, please don't just say bad things about Lily or James. Now that I've said that, I'll address the fact that I've had several cliffe's in a row. The long and short of it is...I like them. lol, I read somewhere that Michael Scott, the Irish Folk and Mythology writer, says Cliffhangers keep people coming back for more. So...I'm trying this out. It seems to be working pretty well. :) And my spring break will be over come Monday, so the quick posting should slow down again after then. I will have the next chapter up before I get too busy I promise!

Please review, I'm slightly addicted to the reviews I get! Especially the longer ones that say what You enjoyed! Thanks to Teufel1987 for betaing this chapter!